Evidently, everyone is experiencing a bad year for ticks, as I have received several emails and read many more comments on social media about them. Unfortunately, not all of what I see or hear is true, so let’s take a moment to talk about ticks and dispel a few rumors and half-truths.READ

This holiday season, you better watch out — for ticks. Unusually high fall temperatures in the northeastern United States have let blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), also known as deer ticks, remain active later into December than usual. READ

Dr. Timothy Sellati, an infectious disease researcher at Trudeau Institute, has “a little pie-in-the-sky” idea for research on the feasibility of developing a method to vaccinate white footed mice against the Lyme disease causing pathogen which ticks carry from the mice to humans. READ

Amanda Palmer, the outspoken rock star and former Dresden Dolls singer, had planned to spend a relaxing week in Maine with her husband, award-winning author Neil Gaiman, but ended up in the hospital. READ